Planchon, Jules Emile (1823 - 1888)

He was born at Ganges, Herault, 21st March, 1823. Died at Montpellier, 1st April, 1888.

Speaking of the " vast" Hookerian herbarium at Kew, "the chief foundation" of the Flora Australiensis, Bentham, who was never prodigal of personal praise, says:

"The value of this herbarium for a work like the present, is also greatly increased by the notes and determinations it contains from the hands of various botanists who have worked in it, and especially of Dr. Planchon, who had examined and corrected the determination of a large portion of the specimens it contained during several years that he had charge of it," (Preface to Flora Australiensis 8*).

Planchon had been Sir William J. Hooker's herbarium curator, and surely any account of the services of the early French botanists to Australia would be incomplete without a brief notice of him.

He studied botany under Auguste Saint-Hilaire, and became Doctor of Sciences, 1844; Curator, Kew Herbarium 1844-49, Professor "Institut Horticole," Ghent, 1849-51 Doctor of Medicine and Professor in the School of Medicine and Pharmacy at Nancy, 1851-3. Later on, he was Director of the Scbool. “Correspondent" of the Academy of Sciences 1872. In 1873 was charged with a mission to America to study phylloxera-resistant vines and the way he performed his mission is a matter of history. Author of "Eucalyptus globulus" (Revue des Deux Mondes, January, 1875). Director, Botanic Gardens, Montpellier. An account of a memorial to him, with an illustration, will be found in the Gardeners' Chronicle for 13th April, 1895.

Source: Maiden, J.H. (1910) Records of the earlier French botanists as regards Australian plants. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales for 1910. 44:123-155.Portrait Photo: Maiden, J.H. (1910) Records of earlier French botanists as regards Australian plants, J. Proc. Roy. Soc. NSW, 44, plates.